Mastering the Soccer Scissors

Free Soccer Training video focused on Mastering the Soccer Scissors. At Online Soccer Academy (OSA) we make BETTER Soccer Players / Football Players through FREE soccer tutorials. We inspire athletes that if you Believe in it® and back that up with hard work, anything in life is possible.

Mastering the Soccer Scissors

Key Points to Doing a Scissors:

1. Stand behind the ball and step with your left foot to the side of the ball.

2. Drop your left shoulder and over exaggerate a fake that you are going to run left.

3. Bring your right foot around the inside of the ball to the outside. Make sure to lean your body a bit to the right when you step to the outside of the ball. The goal is to get the defender un balanced by thinking you are going right when you do the scissors.

4. Take a touch with the outside of your left foot at an angle going forward. Your touch should be out in front of you a few steps so you have room to accelerate past the defender. If you take to small of a touch the defender might be able to get a leg out and make a play.

5. Change pace! The best attacking players in the world know how to change pace and speed up after doing a move. Think slow to fast! This will help you create a few steps of space between you and a defender to give you a second or two to make a play.

6. Do not take to big of steps to the sides because it will throw off how fast you can run when changing pace. For example, I see lots of players step to far left and right so when they take their touch to dribble forward they are almost in a split position which means they can't run right away. You want your left foot touch of the ball going forward as part of your running stride.

7. Do the scissors when you are 2-3 steps away from your defender. DO NOT get to close to the defender because while you are doing your scissors all nice and neat like the defender is just plowing into you. This will increase their chances of winning the ball.

Exercise Player Can Do:

Once you are ready set up your cones like so; a start cone, a defender cone and a cone you will accelerate to at an angle forward up the field from the defender. From the start cone dribble up at slow pace, do your scissors 2-3 steps prior to the defender cone, then change pace and accelerate forward. Do a light jog back and repeat the exercise. Do this until you get tired or feel like you are getting it.

What Player Could Be Doing Wrong:

First, you are doing the scissors but you are to upright and stiff so the defender isn't buying your fake. Remember to drop your shoulder and over exaggerate your fake.

Second, you are getting to close to the defender. Time your scissors right and do it 2-3 steps before the defender.

Coaching Tip 1:

Be careful of the mirror affect. When you are demonstrating the scissors and you are facing your players you are going to say scissors right but in their minds, from their angle, they will see you scissoring left. My advice is after you show them key points and you are demonstrating the move turn your back to the players. So now when they see you do the scissors right, it's to their right too.

Coaching Tip 2:

Get down on one knee and use your hands to move the player's feet. Remember most players are visual learners so if you have a young player that can't understand the scissors drop down on one knee and pick up their feet and scissor them around the ball. Just do one foot at a time so they don't lose their balance and fall over!

Bonus Tips!If you are left footed or want to try this left footed the key points are the same, just the opposite for when I say left or right.